The Program in Health Informatics is designed to be transdisciplinary in its focus. The program is the first in the nation and does not reside in a discipline-specific professional school. Health informatics applies principles of computer and information science to the advancement of life sciences research, health professions education, public health, and patient care. This multidisciplinary and integrative field focuses on health information technologies (HIT), and involves the computer, cognitive, and social sciences. Health Informatics is a collaborative discipline that builds on several other fields such as information sciences, biomedicine, medicine computer science, and mathematics. However, the field is also interdisciplinary and collaborative.
Health informatics (HI) professionals analyze, design, implement and evaluate information systems to improve clinical and public health processes and outcomes, enhance patient and health professional interactions with the health system, and strengthen the ability of communities and individuals to manage their health. Health informatics encompasses clinical informatics broadly defined, public health informatics, and consumer health informatics.